Thursday, July 28, 2011

Home Discovery Canning Set Giveaway

I first became interested in canning when my "green" journey began - back in 2007 or so. I remember wandering the aisles of Target, Safeway, and even Whole Foods asking anyone who looked like they worked there where the canning supplies were. Nowhere was the answer. I eventually ordered some of my supplies online and acquired the rest from a small, independently owned hardware store 20 minutes away.

I taught myself to can jam, pickles, relish with a Ball Canning Cookbook, the instructions on the pectin box and PickYourOwn.org. I then hosted a canning party at my house, another that I offered up for silent auction at my son's school, and finally one at a friend's house. It turns out that everyone wanted to learn to preserve jams, fruits and more.

Today, you can find canners, jars and pectin in nearly every retail outlet that sells food. More and more of my friends and family have dipped their toes into water bath canning and even pressure canning. Last summer, my canner made the rounds to no less than 5 friends. Now they can have their own. And so can you.

The maker of Ball brand canning supplies contacted me last month to ask if I'd like to do a giveaway of their Home Discovery Canning Kit and I was all for it. I almost never do giveaways because I think we all have enough stuff. Canning equipment though? That we can use and share with our friends? To preserve our own harvest and that of our farmers' markets and CSAs? That is something I can get behind.

I have TWO kits to giveaway. The introductory home canning kit is designed for even the most novice canner and makes use of existing kitchenware. It includes an illustrated simplified instruction book with recipes, a polypropylene rack with separate, fitted lifter that works in standard stockpots and three pint canning jars. You'll also get coupons for additional jars.

There are three ways to win and you can use them all!

1) Leave a comment regarding your home canning experience or what you'd like to can if you won the kit.

Giveaway closes on Thursday, August 4th at midnight. The two winners will be announced on Monday, August 8th.

Now let the canning begin!!

Disclaimer: The folks from Ball brand jars offered me my own Home Discovery Canning Kit when they suggested the giveaway. I declined because I already own almost all of their products for home canning! They then offered and sent me some pectin, pickling and salsa mixes as well as a cookbook and jar grabber (or whatever those thingies are called). Their gift did not affect my thoughts on their products or my interest in doing a giveaway. I agreed to it because I love canning and I know you do too.

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The Ball brand is teaming up with Canning Across America, a nationwide collective of cooks, gardeners and food lovers to spread the word on canning this summer with National Can-It-Forward day on August 13th. A free, live webcast hosted a Freshpreserving.com will feature a day of instructional canning videos as well as cooking demos.

I do not yet can but very much want to. I am became extremely interested in learning how after reading "The Householder's Guide to the Universe" I am working my way up to it, but this may be just the inspiration I need it.

This is awesome--I'm fairly new at this whole canning thing, and I'm just discovering the inconvenience of only having this One Massive Canner, and wishing I had a workable way to do small-batch canning. I'm in!

(Plus our local hardware store, the only place I could easily get supplies, just closed! Boo!!!)

...and I visited the site too. That's one of the simplest and most reasonable tomato canning recipes I've yet seen; I'm totally bookmarking it. Most of the ones I've found involve a lot of cooking down and stuff, and I just don't have time for that--I want to get the stuff processed and done ASAP, and I'll mess with it later!

I like the idea of that lifter basket thing. I've taken a year plus vacation from canning what with all the stress of our move and the miserable first year here. I'm looking at the prickly pear fruit ripening, though, and wondering if I should jump back in this year with some jelly.

Wow, I have just applied to the LA County Master Food Preserver program, which was reinstated this year after 10 years of non-existence. I'm already an LA County Master Gardener, and boy, do I need to preserve what I am growing! If accepted, I will need to teach others the fine points of food safety as well as the techniques of preserving. This basket would make a great starter pak for me!!

I used to can a lot back in the late 70's early 80's before kids (those twilight days of hippiedom, of The Whole Earth Catalog, Mother Earth News, Organic Gardening). Now that my youngest is 14 I am able to devote more time to these things again. Green tomato relish was my canning staple. I also used to can a shredded zucchini relish in pineapple juice that could substitute for crushed pineapple in any recipes.

I too have quite a few of their products already and love them! I've been learning the basics this year - pickles and jams. HOWEVER, I'd love another set to take with me on family trips as I have cousins and nieces/nephews who've started requests canning lessons and it'd be great to have a second set to take along to family get-to-gethers and canning lessons! In fact we have a big one coming up on August 13th and my pickles have already been requested.

I do not have any canning experience...but that's going to change really soon! We are in the middle of our first summer on our hobby farm and a bunch of tomatoes and sugar pumpkins are coming my way...and I can't wait to give canned tomatoes and homemade pumpkin butter to my family and friends as gifts.

I've really just started my own home canning. Last year, I made some jam (red current and gooseberry). This year, I hope to make some more - I just got some plums I'd like to have a go at, and I'm eyeing pickles, despite a newfound love of fermenting them.

I will admit to having my eye on a pressure canner, although I think a few more rounds of water bath canning are advisable.

We have wild black raspberries in our back yard and this year we picked a ton of berries. I made some jam and now I am thinking of trying my hand at canning. We did at my house when I was young and I'd like to make some memories with my family.

I am a newbie to canning but have enjoyed making jan two times with friends that wanted to share their passion with me. I also have a dear family friend who brings homemade jam as hostess gifts to her friends and I would love to someday share in that tradition. I think it is a lovely eat to tell someone they are special!

I have never canned anything but want to try canning my own vine ripened tomato sauces for the winter months. I have friends who keep me well stocked with strawberry jam, apple chutney, and other preserves.

My canning so far has been limited to making raspberry and jalapeno jam each summer, but I want to start canning tomatoes and other vegetables. I liked your FB page and visited the site ~ and I love your blog!

Canning is a technique to preserve foods. Adding to that, it is a form of helping the environment become healthier place to live in. Using glass bottles are less harmful than using plastic bottles. Thus, recycling them can help achieve green planet.biodegradable plastic bags